Carousel
by Duchan Mandic
Summary: Tally, Dallas, and Klara all have something in common: someone or something has drawn them to Bon Temps, Louisiana. But what? yeah crappy summary but I'll post the first three chapters so you can sink your teeth into it.
1. You've Never Seen Me At My Worst: Tally

**You've Never Seen Me At My Worst**

Tally Brooks set down her suitcase on the front step of her cousin's porch and knocked on the door.

Natalie rushed up to the door and put her face against the screen. "Oh. Figured it was you. What do you want this time?"

"I'd like to be invited in for starters." Tally said in a calm voice.

"Natalie let her in." Natalie's fiancé` Kevin said from the couch in the living room.

"Come in, Tally. So what brings you to Bon Temps this time?" Natalie asked.

Tally picked up her suitcase and set it next to the staircase of the old house. "Food, a warm place to stay."

"Seriously." Natalie folded her arms.

"Business, mostly. My coffin is set up in the basement, right?" Tally asked.

"It's always set up, Tal." Natalie walked back into the kitchen and resumed her cooking.

"Thanks for letting me stay in your home, Kevin."

"No prob, Tal. Take a seat and watch the game with me." Kevin patted the spot next to him.

"I'm going to have to decline your offer. I have to head over to Shreveport tonight. Where has my car been hidden this time?" Tally asked.

"In the garage next to the truck." Natalie called from the kitchen.

"Thank you." Tally said as she reached for her car keys next to the TV.

"You're going to Fangtasia?" Kevin asked.

"Like I said; business." She said simply and walked out the door. Once she was out in the warm Louisiana night air she ran to the garage and retrieved her silver Honda FC Sport.

[i]_"Why does she have to always be around?" Natalie whined as she sat next to Kevin on the couch._[/i]

[i]_"You're her only living relative, Nat. She has no one else and nowhere else to go. Plus, she could kill either one of us faster than her mother was hung at the Salem Witch Trials." Kevin put his arm around Natalie who still sat with her arms folded with a pouting face._[/i]

"My mother died a slow and painful death, mind you." Tally mumbled under her breath as she got into the car and drove off.

Half an hour later Tally arrived at the notorious vampire bar. "One scratch on her and I'll suck you alive." she warned the valet.

"Ah, Tally. How nice to see you again." Pam greeted her at the entrance.

"Nice to see you as well, Pamela. Where is Eric?"

"He's in Dallas with Bill and his human. Didn't you hear?" Pam asked.

"Hear what?"

"They found Godric."

"That's good news, very good news. I suppose you're the one who will be supplying me with my money then?" Tally shoved past Pam and into the nightclub.

All the humans in the club turned and stared at Tally as she walked through the kitchen door and into the backroom where Eric kept his money.

"Wait! You can't take it while he's not here!" Pam zoomed into the room after her.

"Sure I can, he owes me." Tally smirked and sat down in the leather chair.

"I'll talk to him when he gets back. In the meantime I suggest you leave before you start trouble." Pam glared at her. Tally stood up and left the room.

"I want my money before the end of the week. I can't waste anymore time here in this podunk little town." She slammed the door as she made her way back to her car.

oo

"I don't want Tally coming here anymore! She can get her own house! I'm tired of being a maid to that damn vampire cousin of mine!" Natalie yelled as she threw Tally's suitcase out in the front yard.

"Now Nat, be nice! You're all she has left, you can't just abandon her!" Kevin picked up the suitcase and put it back in the house.

"No! No more!" Natalie threw it back out.

"I'll be taking my leave then." Tally grabbed her suitcase and put it in the trunk of her car. "Thank you for all your past hospitality, Natalie."

"Now wait a goddamn minute, you!" Natalie stormed down the porch steps and pointed her finger in Tally's face. "Don't be little miss sunshine to me! I know how you really are! All those years of Mama favoring you over me just because you were prettier and polite and always dressed nicely, you never once got dirty and everyone just loved you! I'm sick of being compared to all my life! I'm sick of having you come into my home and use me and my fiancé` as a doormat!"

Tally bared her fangs and grabbed Natalie's neck. "Dear Natalie, I never meant to have your mother favor me over you! How could you be jealous over me when I've been sixteen for 317 years! How could I possibly be favored when your parents hated vampires! They thought I was an evil demon from hell! If anything I was the unwanted and unloved one! Do you have any idea how lonely being a vampire is? I only lived with your family for two years yet you hate me like I lived with you for a hundred! And don't you dare say I was never dirty because you have never seen me at my worst." Natalie was dropped to the ground as Tally sped off into the night.


	2. Goodbye, California: Dallas

**Goodbye, California**

"_Oh Dallas, she looks just like you!" _

"_Do you know how hard it's going to be to take care of her? You two are still so immature! This is a baby we're talking about here; you might as well have had AIDs and still have given birth to her!"_

"_Ignore them, Dal. This is _our _baby and we're going to take good care of her. We don't need our parents ridicule. I love you and Juliet and that's all that matters."_

Dallas sat straight up in her bed and look around. Zacky was asleep next to her, and she heard Juliet crying in the next room. She put her glasses on and made her way to her daughter's light pink room. Juliet was laying in her crib and tossing around and wailing. As soon as she saw Dallas, her arms reached up and she picked her tiny body up out of the small crib. "Hey honey, what's wrong huh? You scared mommy with your crying." She sniffled and put her tiny arms around Dallas' neck. "Is it your diaper?" It was. Dallas put her on the changing table and changed her small diaper.

"I think she gets the tininess from you." Zacky chuckled from the doorway.

"I'm a walking twig, what did you expect? It's a wonder I didn't die in childbirth." Dallas replied and picked her up again. Zacky walked over and took Juliet from Dallas and held her up in the air. "Honey don't do that, she won't be able to go back to sleep."

"She's a baby; all she ever does is sleep." He smiled and made goofy faces at her.

Dallas folded her arms across her chest and watched as he played with her. "I think we should see my parents." She blurted.

His funny face turned blank. "Why? They hate me."

"You're the father of my child; they're not allowed to hate you anymore." She said.

"But they live all the way in Louisiana." He replied in a whiney voice. "I don't wanna drive that far. My butt falls asleep easily."

Dallas rolled her eyes, "Please? I miss my family, Zack. And I'm sure they miss us, especially Juliette."

"_You _can go but I'm gonna stay here. They don't like me and the last thing I want is for you to get into another fight with them and leave town with me."

"That's what happened the first time I met you, remember? But that was before all the vamps came outta the coffin."

"And another reason why I don't want us to go, too many vampires in that town! I don't want a vampire to get a hold of Juliet, especially if baby's blood is the best!"

Dallas guessed that was her number one fear of going home, some vampire might take her daughter. But wasn't that what her parents worried about when they first came out? Although Dallas was only seventeen when that happened, then Zacky came to town with his friends looking to meet a sexy vampire woman and all he got was Dallas: the tall skinny waitress at Merlotte's. That's where they began, him and his friends sat down in her section and her boss was eyeing them.

"_They look like a bunch of thugs." Sam had said._

"_I dunno Sam, they're just different." Dallas smiled in their direction._

"_Oh no. I know that look all too well." He laughed, "You've got the hots for them don't ya?"_

_She blushed, "Shush up, Sam." And walked over to their table and took their orders, and Zacky got her number in return._

"Goochie goo! I got your nose, I got your nose!" Zacky said in a childish voice to Juliet that made Dallas laugh and Juliet laugh until she spit up on him, which made Dallas laugh even harder.

"That's…great. Thank you, Julie. Daddy appreciates that." He wiped the spittle off Juliet's face then handed her to Dallas and went to clean himself up.

"Alright now that daddy's gone, time to put you back to bed." She said and kissed Juliet's forehead, laid her down in her crib, turned off the lights and cracked the door. Her blue night light cast a soft glow on her walls so she wouldn't be in complete darkness.

"She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow." Dallas said as she climbed back into their bed.

"Oh good. 'I threw up on daddy now I can go back to sleep!'" Zacky replied.

"Now about Bon Temps…"

"We don't have enough money to even get out of LA, Dallas. How are we supposed to get there?"

"Well, we have a car for starters. And there's always your parents…"

"I knew you were going to pull the 'Zackys Parents' card!" He laughed, "But they do love you now. They didn't then, but they do now. I think it's because you're so tiny and you gave birth to my child."

"Yes my twiggyness is a big accomplishment." Dallas replied.

"Ok so…I'm awake now." He said.

"No." she laughed, "Not tonight. It's like 2 am."

"Fine." He stuck his tongue out.

"That right there is why my parents think you're immature." I point at him, and he tried to bite my finger. "Exactly why!" She squealed as he rolled over on top of her.


	3. Pictures from the Past: Klara

**(If you see these **_[i]_ **things…I forgot to delete them cause these stories are also on my Mibba account, and you have to use codes on there for italicas and stuff.)**

**Pictures of the Past**

_Terrific_, Klara thought as she took the trash out. Right across the street from her foster mother's home standing in the yard were three Were boys.

One of them whistled at her, "Hey cutie! Saw you at school today, lookin' good! Where ya from?"

Fighting the impulse of turning around and beating the living shit out of them, she kept walking towards the grand house that she would be living in until Claudine decided to ship her off some other place. She liked Claudine, but every foster home she'd ever been in had only taken care of her for a week or two then sent her off. She didn't want to become too attached to Claudine.

"Hey." One of the boys was suddenly by her side. He sniffed her hair and breathed heavily, "You smell so _good_."

"Thanks." Klara said, trying to keep a smile on her face. She was nervous and quite scared, because teenage Weres were quite strong in the younger years. She walked a bit faster to the door but the young Were stopped her. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Klara." She said. "What's yours?"

"Max. Since when did you move in with that hot piece of ass Claudine?"

"She's my foster mother. And I'd appreciate it if you did not talk about her like that." She was getting angry. The boy could tell because her thick European accent was coming out.

"Where are you from?" The two other Weres showed up in front of her.

"Romania."

"What the hell are you doing in Louisiana?"

"Max, she smells _really_ good. I recognize her scent." One of Max's friends said.

Max took another sniff at her and smiled. "You smell like a fairy."

Klara nodded, "Alright. May I go now?"

"Wait just a minute—so why are you in foster care?" Max's third friend asked.

"I—"

"Klara, time for dinner!" Claudine said happily from the doorway.

"Thank God." Klara breathed and hastily made her way into the house.

"Goodnight boys." Claudine smiled and closed the door. "Max and his two goons Jacoby and Justin giving you trouble?"

Klara nodded. "They asked me why I was in foster care."

"Did you tell them?

"No. I've lived this long without facing it. I'm not ready to revisit it yet."

Claudine picked up Klara's right arm and ran her forefinger along the six tiny numbers engraved in her skin. "One day you'll have to find closure."

"I'm not ready." Klara repeated.

Claudine nodded, "I know. Now go wash up for dinner."

Klara did as she was told and ran up the long winding staircase to her room.

A few nights later, Claudine and her (Fairy God Child?), Sookie Stackhouse, Were sitting in the living room talking about something in a hushed tone when Klara arrived downstairs with an old fashioned shoebox in her hands.

"Klara, I've been telling Sookie here your story." Claudine said.

"I know, and I've decided to go through my pictures. Just pictures, though." Klara replied.

Sookie smiled, "I'm so proud of you Klara."

Klara smiled back and sat down on the floor in front of the glass coffee table. Pulling out all the old photos washed a wave of emotion over everyone in the room. There were hundreds of them; family photos of birthday parties, school pictures, family get togethers. Then there were sadder pictures; Klara and her little sister standing in front of a barbed wire fence, barefoot in the dirt with raggedy prisoner clothes, their heads shaved and tear-streaked faces with new little tattoos of numbers on their forearms.

"Oh my God…" Sookie's eyes welled up. "You were in the…"

Klara nodded.

"Which one?"

"Auschwitz. I'm the only one left."

"Of your family?"

Klara nodded again. Claudine put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed, "This is too much for you at once, isn't it?"

"I guess." Klara replied.

"Thank you for sharing." Sookie said.

"I didn't mean to make you cry—"

"Oh no! It's okay, really. I'm just an emotional person and it's hard not to cry when you're seeing pictures like these."

Klara shrugged as she started putting all the pictures back into the box.

"You know Klara that there might be some vampires who were there too." Claudine said.

"We have to stay away from vampires though, so I doubt I could talk to them." She replied.

"What about other fairies?" Sookie asked.

"Well, maybe…" Klara stared off into space thinking that maybe there was a chance some of her relatives survived, or maybe a friend or two. She shook her head, "How would I find them if they did survive?"

"You could always check records." Claudine said.

"Or just forget about it." Claudine's twin brother Claude stood at the entrance to the kitchen.

Klara hated Claude. He was rude and stupid. And it sucked that he was [i]_so_[/i] damn good-looking, but he was also gay.

"Claude, I didn't hear you come in." Claudine said. Klara noticed Sookie roll her eyes at the sight of Claude and giggled.

"What's so funny?" Claude's eyes darted to Klara, then turned towards Claudine. "I don't understand why you adopted this brat. She clearly hates me."

"Maybe because you're an arrogant asshole who needs to learn manners!" Klara yelled.

Claude looked taken aback, "Did you just _yell_ at _me_?"

"You deserve more than getting yelled at, but you're also not worth it. Dumbshit." Klara got up in a hurry and ran upstairs with the box in her hands and slammed her door.


	4. Drained: Tally

**Drained**

_Gertrude Brooks cried silently as the executioner tied the rope around her neck._

_"Mama! No! Please, she's innocent! Abigail lied! She was never afflicted!" Tally cried as she ran to the front of the crowd in an attempt to save her mother. _

_"Silence you silly girl!" The judge screamed._

_Tally tripped and fell to the judge's feet. "Please sir, my mother is no witch! The town loves her very much and you of all people should know that your daughter and niece are just wanting attention!" Tally stared at the large man with tears streaming down her face._

_"Uncle! Oh uncle she's torturing me with her witch magic and voodoo! Tally Brooks is a witch just like her mother, I tell you! A witch!" Abigail wailed and fell to the ground twitching. _

_"You little whore!" Tally shouted and lunged at Abigail, clawing at her throat. _

_"Get her off me!" Abigail cried. _

_Hands grabbed at Tally and placed her next to her mother on the gallows with a similar rope around her neck. _

_"Tallin Anna Brooks, you have hereby been arrested on charges of witchcraft and will be sentenced to death immediately!" The judge said. _

_"Without a trial? What evidence do you have but the word of a dimwitted ninny as your niece?" Tally yelled. _

_"Tally, mummy loves you sweetheart and I always will. I will see you in the next life darling." The wood beneath the two women gave away as they both dangled in air with the ropes around their necks. _

Tally slammed on the breaks as she remembered what had happened. "Mother..." Blood tears started falling from her eyes and onto her black leather jacket.

"You alright there?" Someone knocked on her window.

She sniffled, "I'm fine." And refused to look the man in the eyes.

"You sure? Doesn't sound like it." She could see the man smile from the corner of her eye.

"Leave me be." She said sternly.

"Now I can't do that." He laughed and showed her a stake.

"You threaten to kill me? I don't think so, mortal." Tally's form shimmered and she was outside her car holding the man by his crotch.

"Harriet, now!" The man yelled. Tally was overcome with pounds of silver chains. A burning sensation crawled throughout her body as she was brought to her knees.

"Stupid fuckin' vampire." The man mumbled as he kicked Tally in the ribs.

"Shouldn't of...stopped..." Tally said before she blacked out.

"Oh baby is her blood good!" The woman called Harriet exclaimed.

"Calm down, sweet pea. We'll have enough for ourselves and to sell once we drain every last drop of her." The man replied as he pumped more of Tally's blood out of her arm.

"Gahh!" Tally groaned as she awoke and struggled to get the silver chains off her.

"Now calm down, vampy! You sure are tasty, yes you are..." Harriet smiled.

"What...?"

"We're draining you, vampy."

"Stop...I beg you." Tally managed to choke out the words as she fell back into unconsciousness.

"Get off her!" Natalie rushed up behind Harriet and struck her in the head with a baseball bat.

"You sonofabitch!" Kevin yelled at the man and began beating him.

"Hold on, Tally. I'm here, it's ok now." Natalie slowly pulled the chains off her cousin.

"Natalie..."

"Ssh, everything's gonna be alright Tal." Her cousin cooed as she stroked Tally's long curly dark brown hair out of her face and did her best to remove the leaves and twigs.

"Alright, that should be it. They won't be wakin' up 'til late tomorrow." Kevin wiped his hands on his jeans.

"It's almost dawn, Kevin. We need to get her home quick before she fries." The couple picked up Tally and put her in the backseat of their car.

"What about Tally's car?" Natalie asked.

"I'll drive it back and follow you home." Kevin replied as he opened the door and got in.

"How come you get to drive the nice car and I have to take our dumpy SUV?" Natalie whined.

"Stop your whinin' and save your damn cousin, Nat!"

"Alright, alright!" Natalie threw her hands up as she started the car and headed down back to their home.


	5. Hello, Louisiana: Dallas

**Hello, Louisiana**

For the next two days Dallas had convinced Zacky to let her and Juliet go to Bon Temps.

Finally the day of the trip had arrived. Dallas was in Juliet's room getting her ready while Zacky was in the parking lot putting their suitcases into the car for the drive to LAX. Dallas hated flying, but Zacky insisted. She was terrified, she'd much rather drive all the way to Louisiana then fly in an airplane with her newborn.

"I really wish you'd come with me. It'll look bad for me showing up with a baby on my hip alone."Dallas pouted her lip out.

"Babe, you'll be fine. I'll be out there in a couple weeks, the guys and I have a few gigs and I'm pretty sure some important people will be in the audience." He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her.

Dallas had called her parents a few days before to let them know she was coming home for good. Zacky thought it was for a visit, but she planned to stay. She was fed up with California, she couldn't stand it anymore. She didn't have any friends there, all her friends _and_ family were in Bon Temps, the people she grew up around, the people she had been friends with practically her whole life.

Her parents had cleaned out her old room and the guest room in their big old house, which would've been considered a mansion back in the Civil War days, and made a little nursery for Juliet.

"Are you excited honey? You're gonna get to see grandma and grandpa again! And see all mommy's old friends!" Dallas said excitedly to her daughter.

The plane engines started and Juliet giggled happily. She looked out the window while in Dallas' lap and Dallas wrapped her arms protectively around her tiny frame and closed her eyes and counted to ten as the plane took off the runway and into the air.

Later on Dallas got her iPod out with the double cord and put the old fashioned headphones on Juliet's ears and the newer ones in hers and played Big and Rich for her. Juliet wiggled her bottom in her lap and clapped her hands and giggled some more.

"There she is! There's my baby girl and my granbaby!" Dallas' mother smiled at her from the gate at the Shreveport airport.

"Hey mama!" Dallas ran to her with Juliet in her arms. She took Juliet out of her arms and handed her to Dallas' dad then hugged Dallas. Her dad handed Juliet to her mom and then hugged Dallas.

"Where's Zachary?" Her dad asked.

"He's gonna come down in a coupl'a weeks. I haven't exactly told him I'm not going back to California." Dallas replied as they headed to the baggage claim.

"He's not gonna take it very well, will he?" He asked.

"Prob'ly not. But if it's what I want for Juliet, then he'll move down here. Then there's also the guys…"

"The guys?" Her mom asked while holding Juliet.

"His band. They're trying to make it big."

Dallas' dad rolled his eyes, "Of course. Tattooed 'punk rock' boys and they're screaming music."

"Daddy! That's the father of my child you're making fun of!" Dallas smacked his arm.

He chuckled, "I know sweetheart. I just wanted better things for you; I didn't expect my daughter to be a mother at twenty and unmarried. We both thought you were gonna go to that art school in New York."

"Well daddy, I met the man I want to marry and he swept me off my feet. I didn't get pregnant on purpose, but I'm glad I did. Juliet's the best thing that's happened to me." She took her from her mom's arms and hugged her close and kissed her forehead.

"Well, well, well, look whose back home!" JB du Rone yelled. He was still working on Dallas' parents in-ground pool they started building.

"Hey JB!" Dallas laughed as he jumped out of the hole and hugged her.

"Long time no see, Dal!" He laughed and picked her up and spun her around.

"JB du Rone you put me down right now!" Dallas yelled as she heard Juliet laughing with her mom from the porch.

It felt good to be back home, for good.

Now she just wished she could get up the courage to tell Zacky she _was_ home for good.

Three days of unpacking all of her and Juliet's things was all it took, then a few more days to go see all her old friends and show them she had a baby on her hip.

"Oh my!" Aimee, Dallas' old best friend from high school, said when she saw Juliet. "She looks just like…Zacky. But she has your eyes!" She picked her up and held her.

"Is it hard to take care of her since you're so young?" She asked.

"I've got Zacky." Dallas replied.

Aimee gasped, "You should get your old job back at Merlotte's! With me!"

"I can't work at a bar with a baby! I have to have certain hours."

"So? I'm sure Sam will let ya come back to work, and he'll probably let you pick your hours."

Sure enough, Sam gave her back her old job. She worked afternoons on weekdays, and nights on the weekend. She knew it didn't seem fair, but she needed to make money somehow and she wasn't about to argue with Sam since he re-hired her.

"That daughter of yours looks just like you." Sam said as she was cleaning the glasses at the bar.

"Ya think? Everyone says she looks just like Zacky."

"How is he?"

"He's…okay. Ever since we left for California he's been trying to make it to the 'big time' with his band. It's hardly enough to pay the bills, so I came back."

"I'm not gonna say 'I told you so' because I'm not that mean." He sighed, "But didn't you know what you were getting yourself into? I mean, that night you two first met, couldn't you just tell?"

"Now Sam don't chide her on who she fell in love with. I think it's romantic, personally." Aimee said as she passed by going to one of her tables.

Sam snorted, "Yeah. Love. At least the guy's human, I'll give ya that."

Dallas shot him a look.

"Sorry." He said and walked back into his office and shut the door behind him.

"Oh don't mind him, Honey. He's just been real stressed out lately. As to why, I don't know. But you just focus on being happy." Aimee smiled.

Dallas smiled back at her with her confidence back in place and straightened out her white shirt and black shorts. "Thanks Aimee."

"Hey, want to—well, never mind." She said.

"What?" Dallas asked.

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to go do somethin' tonight but I forgot about Julie."

"My parents have been practically demanding I go out and have some fun this past week and a half. I bet they'd be glad to watch her for at least _on_e night."


End file.
